Bear-trap



(No Model.)

0. GRAVEL.

BEAR TRAP.

No. 354,470. Patented Dec. 14. 1886.

(5l/vi. knees@ UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

OCTAVE GRAVEL, OF SPALDING, MICHIGAN.

BEA R-T RA P.

SPECIFICATION formin art of Letters Patent No. 354,470. dated December14,1886.

t i P Application filed August 3, 1856. Serial No. 209,803. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, OCTAVE GRAVEL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Spalding, in the county of Menominee and State of Michigan,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Bear-Traps, of which thefollowing is a specilication.

My invention relates to an improvement in bear-traps; and it consists inthe peculiar construction and combination of devices, that will be morefully set forth hereinafter, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bear-trap embodyingmy improvements. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same, partly in section.Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view.

Arepresents a rod or shank, which is provided at its outer end with aneye, B. At the inner end of the said rod or shank isattached atransverse head-plate, 0,'fron1 which extends aforwardly-projecting arm,D. The inner end ofthe said arm, on the inner side of the plate, is bentat right angles, and is bifurcated, thereby forming ears d, betweenwhich is pivoted a trigger arm or lever, E. The outer end of the shankor rod A is provided with a slot, a.

F represents a U -shaped rod, having parallel needle-arms f and acondecting-yoke, f. The outer ends of the needle-arms pass throughtransverse openings which are made in the plates C, and the yokeconnectingthe said arms extends transversely through the slot a, and isadapted to work back and `forth therein. A spring, G, is located in theslot, and bears against the front side of the yoke, and the function ofthis spring is to move the yoke normally to the rear end of the slot, soas to'.withdraw the outer ends of the needle arms in the openings in theplate C.

H represents a collar or hammer, which is placed on the shank A, and isadapted to slide thereon. A coiled spring, I, is placed on the shank orrod, and bears against the rear side.

of the said collar or hammer and forces the same normally against theyoke of the needlearms. This spring I is very much more powerful thanthe spring F.

K represents a series of three barrels,whieh are formed integrally, andthe center barrel of the series is provided on one side with a lug orear, k, which extends between the bifurcated ends of the arm Dand ispivoted thereto. The rear ends of the barrels bear normally against thefront side ofthe plate C, and in the lower edge of the said plate ismade a transverse opening, c', to receive a lock-pin, L, the function ofwhich is to lock the inner ends of the barrels in place against thefront side of the head-plate. The openings in the said headplate, inwhich the needle-arms work, register with the rear ends of the outerbarrels of the series, and the said outerbarrels are adapted to receivethe usual metallic cartridges.V In the central barrel of the series islocated a triprod, M, the outer end of which is rst bent to form an eye,m, and is then extended rearwardly and bent to form a second eye, m.

N represents a rod, which connects the eye m' of the trip-rod with aneye which is made in the front end of the triggenlever E. At theopposite end of the said lever, on one side of the saine, is formed ashoulder, e, which is adapted to catch against the front side of thespring-actuated hammer or collar H, so as to lock the same whenwithdrawn upon the stem A out of contact with the yoke of theneedlearms. To the eye a ofthe stem A isattached a suspending-rod, O.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The lock-rod is firstremoved from the headplate, and the series of barrels tilted in t-heposition shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and cartridges are inserted inthe rear end of the barrels forming the outer sides of thelseries. Thebarrels are then returned to their normal position,(shown in solidlinesin Fig. 2,) andthe lock-pin is reinserted in the opening c', so as tolock the barrels in place. The hammer or collar is withdrawn on thestein A, against the resistance of the spring H, and the triggerarm iscaused to engage with the said collar, so as to lock it in place. Apiece of meat or other suitable bait is attached to the eye m of thetrip-rod M, and the trap is suspended from a tree or sapling in such aposition that the lower end of the said trap will be at a height ofabout three feet from the ground. The bear is attracted by the bait, andwhen it pulls upon the same the trip-rod is drawn'outwardly in thecentral barrel of the series, thereby causing the rod N to disengage thetriggenlever from the hammer or collar H, and the instant that thelatter is released its spring I forces it downwardly upon the yoke ofthe needle-arms with such force as to cause the said needlearms tostrike upon the percussion-caps of the cartridges and discharge thesame, and as the head of the bear is directly under the trap, it followsthat the bullets will take effect in its head and instantly kill it.

The function of the spring G is to keep the ends of the needle-armsWithdrawn ont of contact with the heads of the cartridges normally, soas to prevent an accidental discharge of the device;

Having thus described my invention, I claiml. Ina beantrap, thecombination, with the shank A, having the head-plate C, provided withthe arm D, of the barrels pivoted to the arm D, the pivoted trigger armor lever, lthe hammer or collar H, sliding on the stem A, the spring I,bearing against the said collar or hammer, the tri p-rod for theattachment of the bait and connected to the trigger arm or lever, andthe needle-arm arranged in the path of the collar or hammer and adaptedto be forced by the same against the cartridges in the barrel- When thetrigger-lever is tripped, for the purpose set forth, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a bear-trap, the combination of the stem A, having the slot a, thehead-plate attached to the slotted end of the stem and provided with thearm B, the barrels pivoted to the arm B, the needle-arms having the yokeWorking in the slot a, the spring G, bearing rearwardly against the saidyoke, the sliding spring-actuated collar or hammer H on the stem A, thepivoted trigger-lever adapted to engage the saidrcollar or hammer,the'trip-rod arranged for the attachment of the bait and connected tothetrigger-lever, and the lockpin or means to secure the barrel in placewhen loaded, substantially as described.

In' testimony that I claim the foregoingas my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in presence of two Witnesses.

m OCTAVE -1- GRAVEL.

mark4 v fitnesses:

JNO. C. THUizs'roN,

B. J. N IoKLEs.

